Dairy Distillery Alliance to Convert Milk Byproduct into Sustainable Aviation Fuel

“In the ‘70s, there was a lot of focus on fermenting lactose to make ethanol to power cars during the oil crisis,” McDonald shares. “Once the oil crisis disappeared, they couldn’t compete against corn ethanol and so the ideas disappeared. Now we’ve revisited it with the lens of carbon reduction.”

Joe Diglio, head of the Michigan Milk Producers Association, notes that the cooperative sought to add value to the milk permeate left over from the ultra-filtering process at its Constantine plant.

“There was very little, if any, value associated with that, so we’re excited about selling energy in the ethanol market,” he explains.

USDA Deputy Administrator John Berge, speaking in an interview with Brownfield following Tuesday’s groundbreaking, highlighted the innovative nature of the project as an example of the agriculture industry leading climate solutions.

“We have around eight million dairy cattle in this country, and they produce a lot of milk, which results in a lot of permeate. We’re not suggesting that all of that’s going to go to ethanol, but a good chunk of it could, and if it did, that would have a huge impact on sustainable aviation fuel and low carbon ethanol for our vehicles.”

Once completed in 2025, the $41 million ethanol plant is expected to process 14,000 tons of milk permeate into more than two million gallons of ethanol, reducing the site’s carbon footprint by five percent.